Category Archives: Hope

When?

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I have nothing to write this morning.  I came here to speak a word of encouragement or two.  But nothing, among my thoughts stands out.  No thought glows with that beautiful holy glow.  Yet, there is one idea that will not dispel as I try to write.  It is the thought of “foundation”.

It was with me in prayer this morning.  It was the “verse of the day” on Bible Gateways app.  It is the sum of understanding when it comes to salvation.  And the permanence of it is astounding as I look back at what I was.

Bible Gateways “verse of the day” is, “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus”.

I see so many lack faith in that.  I see so many disbelieve.  I see them worry without ceasing.  I see them move about, frantically trying to restrain the destruction that is obviously their lives.  I try to calm them down.  But to no apparent effect.

The next time I see them, they are again consumed with frantic worry.  I am astounded at this plight of man.  Why will “we” not believe?  Why do we prefer to worry, struggle fruitlessly, hate and be hated in return, all the while we say, “God will save me”.    Why?

Does God lie?  Is God able to cause the entire fabric of heaven and earth to remain, being sustained by his sheer Holy will, yet he can’t help a single person with the things that bite at them like hungry mosquitos?  Are you kidding me?  Is this what Christ means to us?

If Jesus is not sufficient to all our needs now, can someone tell me when He will “become” sufficient?  If we refuse to rest in belief now, can someone tell me when that will happen?  Just when will God be “enough” for us?  Name the time, mark the calendar, set the hour, post it everywhere.  When the moment comes, will you believe then?  If you do not believe now, you are not likely to believe then.

How shameful is the way of man to consider the offer of God’s help as if it were some future truth, or (at worst) a lie!

The Cost

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Toledo Municipal Court Judge C. Allen McConnell issued a statement Wednesday on his refusal to perform marry a same-sex couple earlier this week.
McConnel says he declined to perform the marriage based on his “personal and christian beliefs.”

Christians have rights too.  Isn’t it curious how it always ends up costing the Christian everything, while the world gets just what they want.

No matter.  We have every confidence that God will reward accordingly.  In the meantime, I’m proud of my brother.

Preferred Trophies

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Our list of God given strengths cannot be a list of the things that were.  It is a living list.  Our strengths are no more frozen in time than are we.  Every moment brings a choice; do we wrestle with weakness, or take hold of victory.

The strengths of God are not trophies that we can put on display.  Rather, they are servants waiting to be deployed. 

It is our weaknesses that are dead.  But I see so many put these on display.

Will it be said that we coveted what is not?  Or will it be said that we desired what is?

What is the Nature of Love?

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The parents of a murderer are pressed hard against the wall.  They remember when he was a baby; purely innocent and full of potential.  But now, like he, they must face the fact of the things he has done.  If he is sentenced to life in prison, they have to wrestle with the understanding that he will never come home again.

With the purest possible love, and the greatest possible regret, they remember him when he lay so sweetly in their arms.  But mistakes, the influence of outside forces, and the choices of the man, have ripped potential from their dreams.  Who can voice a sadness like that?  Tell me that loss isn’t personal.

Tell me they don’t think of how much better it might have been if their sweet baby had been stillborn.  Better for the victim’s family.  Better for the society that was robbed of precious potential.  Better that a prison cell should house anyone else, and that for lesser crimes. . . PLEASE!  Better for the sounds that the walls of their house remember.  Better for their aching hearts that cannot find healing.

They cannot love their child to the potential they once desired, for once a deed like that is done it cannot be erased. 

But you will not rip away what love remains, from their hearts.  For they will seek with great diligence to find the shreds of their baby that remain in their son.

Love is not passive. 
Love is not blind. 
Love is married to wisdom.
Pure love understands what is pure. 
Love makes way for reality.
Love may experience restriction.
Love may be forsaken!
But it is impossible for love to die.

Opinion?

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Will you help a beggar in the street?  Will you look the other way when you see a drunk?  In your opinion, what is the difference between the two?

Are not both bodies in a posture of weakness?

You praise the soldier whose pride lets him run toward the enemy, mindless of death.  And you agree with the average Joe who is proud to say he does not worry about the coming judgment.  In your opinion, what is the difference between the two?

Are not both of them bent on self reliance?  Do you think death cares?

Do you fear God?  Do you think the fear of God is a matter of opinion; as if it’s okay to let another man think he has a choice.  As if God has said he is willing to give eternal life to those who refuse to love him.  Or do you realize that that man will surely die?

All day long, everyone of us are witness to people who despise the teaching of God.  When you see them, do you realize you’re looking at a dead man?  Or do you just say to yourself, “It takes all kinds to make the world go around”?

Do you shake your head in pity when you consider what people are doing in this world?  Are you doing anything to bring the judgment of God to your fellow man?  Is shaking our heads in pity putting an end to the violence in our streets?

Do you know what the Bible says about the coming judgment?  Do you use the Gospel simply as a motivator for social righteousness?  Do you honestly believe that’s all it is? 

Escape, Because You Can

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The title of this post was on a billboard for a casino.  We all know what they meant.

But in the blink of an eye, I think we can all see how that applies to the judgment of God.

No one needs to stand in the great assembly of sinners that will be cast away from His presence.  Every single man and woman can enter into the joy of Christ for eternity.  How?

Humble yourself in prayer and ask God to show you.  Read the Bible with an earnest desire to learn.  Strive to do what it says.  And continue to return to earnest prayer, that God may show you what to do.

No one needs to be cast away from God’s presence.